Term pack

Year 6 English

Name: ________________________

Skills in this pack

Active and passive voice
Defining and non-defining relative clauses
Shades of meaning
Reading a factual passage
Reading for clues
The parts of a friendly letter

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Year 6 English · 1 of 6

Active and passive voice

Tell active from passive, and change a sentence from one voice to the other.

1.Which sentence is in the passive voice?
- a) The gardener will water the plants.
- b) The gardener waters the plants.
- c) The gardener is watering the plants.
- d) The plants are watered by the gardener.
2.Complete the passive with the two missing words: The window ____ by the ball yesterday. (verb: break)
3.Match each active sentence to its passive form.
- Ravi paints the wall.
- Ravi painted the wall.
- Ravi will paint the wall.
- Ravi is painting the wall.
- The wall is being painted by Ravi.
- The wall will be painted by Ravi.
- The wall is painted by Ravi.
- The wall was painted by Ravi.
4.Complete the passive with the three missing words: The invitations ____ tomorrow. (verb: send)
5.Complete the passive with the two missing words: The house ____ in 1920. (verb: build)
6.Sort each sentence by its voice.
Groups: Active · Passive
- The results will be announced.
- Somebody has stolen my bag.
- They will announce the results.
- My bag has been stolen.
7.Change to the active: "The parcel was delivered by the courier."
- a) The courier delivers the parcel.
- b) The parcel delivered the courier.
- c) The courier has delivered the parcel.
- d) The courier delivered the parcel.
8.Which sentence is in the active voice?
- a) The cake is being cut.
- b) Sunil cut the cake.
- c) The cake was eaten.
- d) The cake has been cut.

Active and passive voice · Year 6 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 6 English · 2 of 6

Defining and non-defining relative clauses

Tell a clause that says which one from a clause that only adds extra information, and punctuate each correctly.

1.Match each relative pronoun to what it stands in for.
- who
- whom
- whose
- which
- where
- when
- a thing or an animal
- a person, as the object of the clause
- a place
- a person, as the subject of the clause
- something belonging to the person or thing
- a time
2.In which sentence can the relative pronoun be left out altogether?
- a) The girl who won the prize is in my class.
- b) The road that leads to the station is closed.
- c) The book that I borrowed was excellent.
- d) My cousin, who lives abroad, writes to me often.
3."The runners who trained on the hills finished first." There are no commas. What does the sentence tell you?
- a) Some of the runners trained on the hills, and those are the ones who finished first.
- b) Every runner trained on the hills.
- c) The runners finished first, and it happens that they had all trained on the hills.
- d) None of the runners trained on the hills.
4.Which sentence is wrong?
- a) The film we watched last night was long.
- b) The film, that we watched last night, was long.
- c) The film which we watched last night was long.
- d) The film that we watched last night was long.
5.Which sentence uses a non-defining relative clause correctly?
- a) Our science teacher, who joined last year is very patient.
- b) Our science teacher, who joined last year, is very patient.
- c) Our science teacher who joined last year, is very patient.
- d) Our science teacher, that joined last year, is very patient.
6.One relative pronoun can never introduce a clause sitting between a pair of commas. Write it.
7.Compare "My sister who lives in the hills is a doctor" with "My sister, who lives in the hills, is a doctor". What does the first version suggest that the second does not?
- a) The sister has left the hills.
- b) The speaker has more than one sister.
- c) The speaker has only one sister.
- d) The sister is not really a doctor.
8.In each sentence the relative clause is in capitals. Sort by whether that clause needs commas round it.
Groups: Needs commas — extra information · No commas — it says which one
- The man WHO GREW UP ON A FARM keeps bees.
- The boy WHO PLAYS THE FLUTE sits behind me.
- My father WHO GREW UP ON A FARM tells wonderful stories.
- The doctor WHO TREATED MY ANKLE works at the clinic.
- My only brother WHO PLAYS THE FLUTE is younger than me.
- My mother WHO IS A DOCTOR works long hours.

Defining and non-defining relative clauses · Year 6 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 6 English · 3 of 6

Shades of meaning

Choose between words that mean nearly the same thing but differ in strength or in feeling.

1.One word, please. Which shows more feeling — "liked" or "loved"?
2.The soup was so ____ that it burned her tongue.
- a) warm
- b) cool
- c) mild
- d) hot
3.Put these words in order, from the smallest to the biggest.
- tiny
- enormous
- large
- small
4.Which word shows the most fear?
- a) worried
- b) terrified
- c) uneasy
- d) nervous
5.Sort each verb by what it is a way of doing.
Groups: A way of walking · A way of looking
- peep
- stare
- march
- stroll
- wander
- glance
6.One word, please. Which shows more surprise — "surprised" or "astonished"?
7.All of these describe the same thing. Sort them by how they make the person sound.
Groups: A kind way to say it · An unkind way to say it
- confident
- slim
- big-headed
- skinny
- careful with money
- stingy
8.Match each ordinary word to the stronger word that means the same thing.
- hungry
- tired
- cold
- happy
- angry
- wet
- freezing
- furious
- exhausted
- delighted
- starving
- soaked

Shades of meaning · Year 6 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 6 English · 4 of 6

Reading a factual passage

Answer questions about a factual passage by finding what it actually says, including the order of what happens and what it leaves out.

1.Read this passage. "Salt has been taken from the sea for thousands of years, and the method has hardly changed. Sea water is let into shallow pans dug near the shore. The sun and the wind do the rest of the work: the water slowly turns to vapour and rises, leaving the salt behind as a white crust. Workers rake the crust into heaps and leave it to drain. Nothing is added and no fire is used, which is why the same pans can be used year after year." What makes the water leave the pans?
- a) Pumps built under the pans
- b) The sun and the wind
- c) Rain washes it out
- d) Workers pour it away
2.Match each thing in the salt passage to the part it plays.
- the shallow pans
- the sun and the wind
- the workers
- the white crust
- turn the water to vapour
- rake the salt into heaps
- what is left when the water has gone
- hold the sea water
3.Read this passage. "A banyan tree does not grow the way most trees do. It begins life high up on another tree, where a bird has dropped its seed. Roots come down from its branches like thin ropes, and when they reach the ground they thicken into new trunks. In time a single banyan can look like a small forest, with dozens of trunks holding up one enormous crown. In many hot countries the shade of an old banyan is used as a meeting place." Where does a banyan tree begin its life?
- a) In a dry river bed
- b) On the ground, from a buried seed
- c) High up on another tree
- d) Inside a hollow trunk
4.Which of these does the salt passage NOT tell you?
- a) What makes the water rise
- b) How much salt one pan makes
- c) Where the pans are dug
- d) How the salt is gathered up
5.Put the stages of a banyan's growth in the order the passage gives them.
- A bird drops a seed high up on another tree.
- Roots come down from the branches like thin ropes.
- The roots reach the ground and thicken into trunks.
- One tree comes to look like a small forest.
6.In the banyan passage the roots are compared to something: "Roots come down from its branches like thin ropes." Write the one word they are compared to.
7.Put the steps of making sea salt in the order the passage gives them.
- Workers rake the crust into heaps.
- Sea water is let into shallow pans.
- The water turns to vapour and rises.
- A white crust of salt is left behind.
8.From the salt passage: "the water slowly turns to vapour and rises, leaving the salt behind as a white crust." Write the one word the passage uses for the salt left behind.

Reading a factual passage · Year 6 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 6 English · 5 of 6

Reading for clues

Answer what a short passage says outright, and what it only leaves clues about.

1.Read: "First the sky darkened. Then the wind rose, and the door banged shut. Only after that did the rain start." Put the events in the order they happened.
- The rain started.
- The door banged shut.
- The wind rose.
- The sky darkened.
2.Passage: "Rain fell all morning. Anna came into the hall carrying her shoes, and left wet footprints across the floor." Sort each statement.
Groups: Stated in the passage · Worked out from the passage
- Anna had been outside in the rain.
- It rained all morning.
- Anna had been walking barefoot.
- Anna was carrying her shoes.
3.Match each detail to what it tells you.
- The lights were off and the door was locked.
- He was carrying a bat and wearing pads.
- Her umbrella was dripping in the corner.
- The plates were empty and the chairs pushed back.
- He was going to play cricket.
- The meal was over.
- The shop was shut.
- She had come in from the rain.
4.Read: "The path was so narrow that they had to walk in single file." What does "narrow" mean here?
- a) Very long
- b) Full of stones
- c) Very dark
- d) Not wide
5.Read: "Meera read the notice board twice, then walked away smiling and swinging her bag." How does Meera feel?
- a) Frightened
- b) Bored
- c) Pleased
- d) Angry
6.Read: "Ravi's shirt was torn, his knee was bleeding, and his bicycle lay on its side by the road." What has most likely happened?
- a) He has just bought a new bicycle.
- b) He has fallen off his bicycle.
- c) He is mending his bicycle.
- d) He has won a race.
7.Read: "Nila's bag was heavy with library books. She had borrowed six, although the rule allowed only four." How many books was she allowed to borrow?
- a) Four
- b) Ten
- c) Two
- d) Six
8.Read: "The classroom door stood open, the fan was still turning, and a half-finished drawing lay on Nila's desk. Her bag was gone." What has most likely happened?
- a) Nila did not come to school at all.
- b) Nila has left in a hurry.
- c) Nila has been at her desk all afternoon.
- d) Nila has finished her drawing.

Reading for clues · Year 6 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 6 English · 6 of 6

The parts of a friendly letter

Name the parts of a friendly letter and set them out in the right places on the page.

Before you start

Here is a friendly letter with its six parts drawn as blocks. Find out what each block is called and where on the page it sits.

1. Your own address
2. The date
3. The greeting
4. The body of the letter
5. The closing
6. Your name

Every part starts hard against the left-hand edge — that is the block format — and the body of the letter takes up more room than all the other parts put together.

1.Which greeting is written correctly?
- a) Dear anna,
- b) dear Anna,
- c) Dear Anna,
- d) Dear Anna
2.What is written on the line just below your own address?
- a) The greeting
- b) The date
- c) Your name
- d) The closing
3.Match each part of a letter to the job it does.
- the greeting
- the date
- the body
- the closing
- your own address
- says where a reply should be sent
- says who the letter is to
- says when it was written
- carries the news itself
- comes just before your name
4.One word, please. The line that names the person you are writing to is called the ____.
5.One word, please. The part of the letter that carries your actual news is called the ____ of the letter.
6.Which mark comes straight after the name in the greeting?
- a) A full stop
- b) A question mark
- c) No mark at all
- d) A comma
7.Sort each line by where it belongs in a friendly letter.
Groups: It greets the reader · It closes the letter
- Dear Anna,
- Dear Grandmother,
- With love,
- Your loving friend,
- Yours affectionately,
- Dear Ravi,
8.Sort each part by whether it is written near the top of the page or near the bottom.
Groups: Near the top · Near the bottom
- the greeting
- your own address
- the closing
- your name
- the date

The parts of a friendly letter · Year 6 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Answer keys — Year 6 English

In the same order as the worksheets.